Anatomy of an Illness as Perceived by the Patient by Norman Cousins

concept of holistic health seriously, it is unreasonable to expect him to embrace approaches which lack systematic and sustained verifiable data. As evidence is developed, however, it is reasonable to expect the physician to examine it carefully and fully.
    Similarly, it is reasonable to expect the physician to maintain an open mind about new developments in diagnosis and treatment even though they may not seem to be in harmony with his own training and experience. But it is not reasonable to expect him to proceed with any treatment in the absence of adequate clinical evidence that it is safe and efficacious. No responsible doctor will experiment with his patients.
    It is reasonable to expect the physician to have respect for the powers of mind in overcoming disease, especially in view of the laboratory and clinical evidence that human biochemistry is affected by willpower or emotional states. But it is unreasonable to expect him to give those approaches a monopoly status in his care of patients and to abandon other methods he knows to be efficacious in varying degrees.
    It is reasonable to expect the doctor to recognize that science may not have all the answers to problems of health and healing. But it is not reasonable to expect him to give up the scientific method in treating his patients. The most important thing about science is the scientific method—a way of thinking systematically, a way of assembling evidence and appraising it, a way of conducting experiments so as to predict accurately what will happen under given circumstances, a way of ascertaining and recognizing one’s own errors, a way of finding the fallacies in long-held ideas. Science itself is constantly changing, largely as the result of the scientific method. It is unreasonable, therefore, to expect the doctor to depart from this method no matter how great the compulsion or persuasion.
    It is reasonable to expect the doctor to accord nutrition a high place in the understanding and treatment of illness. It is equally reasonable to expect him to listen to his patient’s own developed interest in the subject, even though the doctor may see logical and factual gaps in the patient’s articulation. It would be a serious mistake for the physician to allow his superior knowledge of health care in general to lead him to believe that there are no particulars in which laymen may be better informed. The case for good nutrition is exactly the same as the case for good medicine. If medication can make a difference in the internal functions of a human being, so can food. It is a serious error to suppose, therefore, that medication can accomplish a desired purpose despite everything else that is taken into the human body, or that the right foods cannot be used effectively to fight disease, whether in combination with medication or without it, depending on the nature of the problem. In any case, it is reasonable to expect the physician to take a complete nutritional profile of a patient as an essential part of any examination workup.
    It is unreasonable, however, to expect a physician to believe that the right foods, however essential, are all that is required to cure any disease. The doctor would be irresponsible if he did not use all the means at his command in cases requiring heroic intervention. To the extent that proper foods are required, they should be fully employed; to the extent that the science of medicine should be fully invoked, the doctor should not be expected to hold back. If a patient has had an attack of bacterial endocarditis, for example, prompt medicinal treatment can represent the difference between life and death. Good food can play an important role in strengthening the heart, but in an emergency situation, it would be folly to abstain from drastic medicinal treatment, taking into account the remarkably high percentage of cases that have recovered swiftly when so treated.
    It is reasonable to expect the physician to accept the need